Package-opening means



Nov. 23 1926.

G. A. PROCTOR rmmez: OPENING MEANS Filed April 18 1925 INVENTOR.

4. Pracfor ATTORNEY.

8 Gem/ye or dispensed.

' or other material capablepf bemgtorn,

Patented 7 Nov. '23, 1926.

PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE A. PBOCTOR, OE LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

' PACKAGE-OPEN ING MEANS.

Application'filed April 18, 1925. Serial No. 24,074.

This invention relates to packages for cigarettes, or other merchandise, which are sealed or closed when sold or when packed, and the main object of the invention is to provide means whereby the package may be quickly and conveniently opened in such manner as to render the contents of the package easily accessible when desired but to firmly retain such contents until removed. A further object of the invention is to rovide a package and'opening means ther for of such type that after operation of the opening means the package may be readily manipulated so as to present a relatively large'opening for the removal of the contents but may subsequently be so manipulated as to substantially close suchl opening and prevent loss or damage to the contents.

The invention comprises the combination, with a polyhedral package or container having its enclosing casing or a seal therefor wholly or partially formedfo'f'paper, foilf,

o a tearing device consisting of an elongated flexible cutting member such as a wire or thread suitably secured in .said casing and cording to my invention.

adapted to be pulled so as to rip, cut, or tear the casing or sealof the package along or across ad acent sides thereof thus forming a slit or opening which extends across an edge of the package so that the package may be opened up by spreading'or separating the parts of the package along the line or the cut or slit so formed, so .as to enable the contents of the packageto be easily removed The accompanying drawings illustrate embodiments of my invention and referring thereto: v

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a cigarette package provided withopening means ac- Fig. 2 is a plan viewof such package. Fig. 3' is a vertical section ofthe package with part of the casing shown in elevation and with operation.

Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section of the package shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view method of operating the tearing device an of opening the packag and removing the contents.

6 shows a simple type of tearingde- F1 vice %or use in the above of; the invention,

. this my openin stamp the tearing device in positionlfoii showing the d thereon in tearing the package is supported whereas'if the The package indicated at 1 may consist f any desired or suitable number of wrappings or thicknesses of material as is common in-such packages. For example it may comprlse a layer of metal foil indicated at 2, a layer of paper as at 3, and an outer covering of waxed paper or other transparent material as at 4. The package or container may be formed and the cigarettes in-- dicated at 5 may be packed therein in the usual manner of forming and'filling such packages. My invention comprises in connection with such package an opening device comprising an elongated flexible cutting or tearing member 6, such as a wire or thread, secured at one end to the package or to securing means such as anchor mem- .ber suitably secured to said package or to the contents thereof, and at the other end to a tab or pull member 8; which is accessible for manipulation of the tearing device. The anchor 7 may comprise a stick or small rod of wood or other similar rigid material and may as in this case be secured in position by engagement with .the upper corner of the package casing 1 as shown in Fig. 4. Since anchor member 7 is outside of the wrappings 2, 3, and 4, the tearing member 6 must extend through these wrappings at point. Anchor member 7 may be fureld in place and prevented from slipther f -a strip of paper or other -p1ng by means 0 material pasted over said member and extending over the top of the package. Such retaining strip may advantageously comprise the ordinary revenue stamp indicated at'31, when such a stamp is used. It may I bementioned here as an added advantage of device, that operation of such [device, as escribed below, to open the package, will at the same time tear the revenue re-use of such stamp. The tearing member 6 is preferably inserted in the package as shown so as to pass between the cigarettes and extend diagonally from a lower edge of the package to a non-adjacent or diagonally opposite upper edge thereof. By .such an arrangement the tearing device lies in a substantially straig entirely by the anchor means,

teari member lay along the top 21 and the si e 20 so as to pass around. an edge of the package orof the contents thereof, pullonsuch member would cause inward and thus prevent any possibility of ht line and the pull exerted pressure at this edge and hence damage the contents of the package. Furthermore in the. ordinary type of cigarette package with which the invention is particularly adapted for use, the package material is folded or doubled over at the .top of the package so as to present a greater thickness of material at the top of the package than at the side of the package, and the revenue stamp is also affixed to the top of the package which serves to still further increase the thickness of the materialat this point. It is a particular-advantage of. myinvention 'in this connection that with the pull member 8 located at the bottom of a side wall of the package as indicated, the tearing operation is begun 'at the side wall of the package where a minimum thickness of material is presented and by the time the top of the packagesis reached the tearing member is already in motion so that the tearing can'be continued across the. top and through the greater thickness of material there presented without diificulty. If on the other hand an attempt were to be made E0 start the tearing operation in the top wall of the package, the greater thickness of the material at this point would render it practically impossible to make a clean cut through the same. be impossible to anchor or otherwise secure the end of the. tearing device to the package strongly enough to support the pull required in such case.

The tab or pull member 8 secured to the other end of the wire or tearing member 6 may be conveniently located, as shown, near 1 the bottom of the front of the package and in order to permit ready access to such tab, the wire or thread 6 may extend through the two inner wrappings 2 and 3 of the package, as indicated at 10, and said tab 8 'may be placed between the wrapping 3 and the outer wrapping 4 of transparentmaterial such as waxed paper. The tab 8 may advantageously be formed by providing a loop 11 at the end of the wire or thread 6 and covering such loop with suitable material such as paper or cloth to form a 'fiat tab or handle as shown in Fig. 6. I also "prefer toprovide re-enforcing means, such as a strip of cardboard indicated at 9, inside the casing at the bottom of the pack- In order to indicatethe direction in which the tearing member is to be pulled,

suitable indicating means such as an arrow I indicated at 12 may be provided adjacent the tab or pull member 8 and extending in the direction in which the tearing member 6 is to be pulled. Such indicating means may be printed on the front of the pack age or itmay consist of .a small strip of paper or other material glued or pasted onto the outer wrapping 4 or the wrapping 3 at this point, or such indicator may be omitted.

Furthermore, it would,

In opening the above described package the outer transparent wrapping 4 is first broken adjacent the tab or pull member 8,

and torn away asQindicatcd at 13 so as to permit the user to grasp such tab and raise the same to the position indicated in Fig. 3.

It will be seen that the pull member 8 may thus be grasped without any need of first opening the inner or main wrappers2 and 3. The user may then pull on this tab in thedirection indicated by arrow 12 and will may then be removed by pulling on the wirev 6 so as to dislodge the sanie from under the covering, and the package may be opened by spreading the two sides thereof away from the slit 23 thus formed as also shown in'Fig. 5. It will be seen that by virtue of the fact that the slit so formed extends across two adjacent sides of the package and consequently past an edge thereof, the package may easily be manipulated so as to present a relatively large opening for the removal of the cigarettes therefrom. Furthermore before or. after one or more of such cigarettes have been removed the two halves of the package may again be brought together 1 along the line of the cut or slit,'so that the remain in normal position with the side-s ot the package closed at slit 23.

My invention may also be applied in connection with other types or shapes of packages for permitting the removal or dispensal of any commodity contained therein; for

example it may be applied to packages for cereals or breakfast foods, salt, etc. The particular place at which the slit is to be made will depend in each case upon the shape of the package and the character of the commodity contained therein. In general however it is essential that the wrapper.

or casing be made of material which is capable of being torn, and that the tearing device be so positioned within such wrapper or casing that when pulled it will tear the -same along or acrossat least two adjacent sides and past or across atleast one edge or corner so as to permit the parts at the two sides of the slits to be-bent. back to form a relatively large opening. I

The above-described package opening means is to be distinguished from the type of package in which a strip or portion of the wrapper or casing itself may be. pulled 01f along or between certain lines by pulling on a portion thereof, as in such cases it is impossible to subsdquently close the opening thus formed. It is also to be distinguished from, and is of material advantage over, the

' packages which are provided with lines of perforations in the wrapper along which 1t may be torn, such perforations having the disadvantage of preventing air-tight sealing of thecontents of the package, which is oftentimes highly desirable. WVith my.

openingmeans the wrapping need only be pierced at the point at which the tearing member 6 extends through to the pull member 8, and in some cases at'a similarvpoint adjacent the anchor member, and these holes maybe sealed if desired by application of a drop of glue or other sealing me'dium.

I claim:

1. In combination with a polyhedral package consisting of material capable of being torn, an opening device comprising an elongated cutting'member extending in a substantially straight line within said package from a point intermediate the ends of one edge of said package, to a point intermediate the ends of a nonadjacent edge .of the package in such manner that pulling upon one end of said cutting member will cause the same to cut across the sides of the package-between said non-adjacent edges.

2. A construction as set forth in claim 1 'and comprising in addition anchoring means.

secured to said package and also securedto one end of said cutting member so as tosupport the pull exerted'upon said cutting member in the operation thereof.

3. A construction as set forth in claim 1,

said cutting member having a portion pro v jecting through said package at one of said edges and being provided with a tab secured ,to said projectingportion and located outing of said tab for member..

4. In combination with a polyhedral package consisting of material capable of being torn, an opening device comprising an elongated cutting member extending in a operation of the cutting sideoff said package so asto permit grasp substantially straight line within said package from a point intermediatethe ends of one edge of said package to a point intermediate the ends of a non-adjacent edge of the package, anchoring means secured to said package adjacent said first-named edge of an edge of one end of said-casing to an intermediate point of the diagonally opposite edge of the other end of the casing, means securing said flexible member to the casing at one of said edges, means connected to said flexible member and protruding outside the casing adjacent said other edge to permit grasping thereof for operation of said opening device to tear said casing acrossthe faces thereof between said diagonally opposite edges, and re-enforcing means located within one end of the package casing to .tend to hold thepackage in closed position after operationof the opening device.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 7th day of April 1925.

' ;GEORGE.A. PROCTOR. 

